The "Ruling Class" has been outed. Their icons are not as threatening as they used to be.

In the old days, if ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, PBS, the New York Times, and the Washington Post deemed a conservative candidate to be the equivalent of a nut-job, or "out of the mainstream," that settled the argument. The word had been handed down from Mount Olympus. End of story. Pravda in its heyday could not have done a better brainwashing job.

These days, the metaphoric "very bad wizard" still hands down the tablets from Mt. Olympus, but multiple contradictors are gathering on stage behind the pontificator shaking their heads, pointing at the clothesless emperor and mouthing "Not true. Here's what he's ignoring."

Juan Williams

It may seem odd that conservative outlets — such as this column — are coming to the defense of a certified liberal commentator. Had there been no conservative alternatives in the blogosphere (and talk-radio, cable news, etc.), it is far from certain that NPR's firing of Juan Williams over a politically incorrect comment would have been more than a one-day story.

Williams said on Fox News O'Reilly Factor he is a bit nervous when he boards a plane that includes a passenger dressed in Muslim clothing. Millions of normal people have shared that concern since 9/11; it is just reality. But Williams was in hot water because he quite innocently violated NPR's apparent head-in-the- sand gospel that the 9/11 attack somehow might have been perpetrated by the Beatles or the Sisters of Mercy.

Inspection time?

Now why are we talking about this in a column otherwise spotlighting races for the upcoming 112th Congress?

It is because that Congress will have something to say about whether taxpayers should continue funding their part of the budget that sustains NPR and public broadcasting in general.

Taxpayer backing for NPR adds up to a relatively small portion of the NPR take, but judging from the howls of protest heard throughout the land whenever budget cutbacks are suggested, it would have to be monumentally pivotal. Just how small depends on whether you count only the 5.8% in federal, state, and local government support that NPR acknowledges — or if you add to that the monies transferred by taxpayer-supported universities and tax-exempt contributions from foundations.

We will leave it to the new incoming House to sort out all of that. The House, by the way, has what could be a chokehold on the federal money bills. They go nowhere (not to the Senate, not to the president) unless the House — most likely to be far more conservative next year — gives the green light.

Saw this coming

In 1967 when Public Broadcasting (radio and TV) was launched, my own broadcast supervisor at the time raved on and on as to how this was "such a great move" and "so much in the public interest."

I quietly interjected that as a reporter I covered government officials and politicians all the time. If I were in a situation where the same people I covered were also funding the people who sign my paycheck, might that not give "the appearance" of a conflict of interest? The guy looked at me (and talked to me) as if I had two heads. (P.S. — In later years, he took a position in the realm of publicly-funded broadcasting.)

Meanwhile, as NPR may have stirred the proverbial hornet's nest on Capitol Hill, Juan Williams gets a fatter paycheck as a liberal voice on Fox News's "fair and balanced" format — quite apart from NPR — oozing with left-wing commentaries for years for which no retributive axes have fallen.

(Speaking of the House) — Michele Bachmann

If you're concerned that the national debt (as of this writing) registers north of $13˝ trillion, you can do no better Nov. 2 than to support the likes of a lawmaker who has been designated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi as her Number 1 target in this election cycle, an honor indeed.

Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota's 6th congressional district is seeking her third term. She has a sterling record, including co-sponsorship of the REBOUND Act aimed at cutting the deficit and promoting real economic recovery. It would recall the $460 billion in unspent "stimulus" money, while retaining the tax relief and unemployment benefits. She would cut spending, reduce taxes, and eliminate unnecessary job-killing regulations.

The personable Republican tea-party favorite has a knack for working well with people without being co-opted by the beltway "insider "syndrome. She retains "Minnesota values" and enjoys the support of pro-life organizations. And yes, Bachmann will vote to repeal and/or defund Obamacare.

Bachmann's Democrat opponent (carrying Pelosi's water in Minnesota's Sixth) is State Senator Tarryl Clark. Ms. Clark distinguished herself by holding up proceedings of the chamber in St. Paul whose business was suspended for a long time after the solons had voted 33-to-33 on a budget measure. Business came to a halt as the state senate waited — and waited and waited — for Senator Clark. When the legislator finally arrived, she voted in favor of the bill, which included a tax hike in the hundreds of millions.

And what delayed Senator Clark for so long? Turns out she was on Twitter — grinding out her campaign propaganda. Meanwhile Congresswoman Bachmann was holding job fairs in the District, seeking solutions to the state's unemployment.

Disgracing the good family name of his late father (Thomas J. Dodd, a viscerally anti-Communist Democrat who, as a member of the Senate, investigated enemies of this country), Connecticut's scandal-tarred Senator Christopher Dodd is hanging it up after 30 years in that august body.

Not really by his choice. Dodd the younger was caught up in the bad blowback against Countrywide Financial. He wanted to seek a sixth term, but seeing his rating slip in the Nutmeg State, Chris Dodd decided to get out while the getting was good.

This has created an open U.S. Senate seat.

From bad to worse?

The problem is that Connecticut voters are being asked by the Democrat party to trade one miscreant for another.

Replacing Dodd on the ticket is Connecticut's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. It is no overstatement to say that Mr. Blumenthal is driven by a quest for power that is nothing short of maniacal. He is quite content to destroy other people's lives in the process. He is the equivalent of New York's Eliot Spitzer (without the call girls, as far as we know).

Like his former counterpart in the Empire State, Blumenthal pursues a "drive-by shooting" genre of justice and in the process leaps from one hapless victim to the next.

Get that small businesswoman

Herewith the story of Gina Kolb, whose small business sold the State of Connecticut over $17 million worth of computers. Following that, she was sued by Mr. Blumenthal, who alleged she had overcharged the state by a half million. The AG was suing the lady for $1.75 million. He termed it a case of first-degree larceny.

A court dismissed the case. Kolb — her business having been obliterated by the bad publicity — turned around and sued the state. The jury agreed an injustice had been meted out to this woman and awarded her $18 million. The jurors scored Blumenthal's "pattern of conduct."

Appealing the verdict, the persecutor persuaded a judge to reduce it. But he's not satisfied, vowing to fight to get the award "down to nothing."

This one case is good enough reason to consign this intemperate man to private life — or whatever fate will keep him out of the taxpayer's face and pocket. But this has been a pattern for Blumenthal for lo these many years. He's a smear-bucket artist.

Linda McMahon

Connecticut voters next week can stop this man before he inflicts damage on the national scene. They have the option of voting for his Republican opponent, Linda McMahon, recently CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. With 30 years of real world business experience, she knows how to manage a budget, and stimulate the economy.

As one of the nation's top female executives, McMahon is running for the Senate to change Washington's failed economic policies, get spending under control, and put people back to work.